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Old 30th Sep 2019, 3:07 pm   #1
G4YVM David
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Default Rhossili Down radar station

Just had a walk up to the radar site on Rhossili down...a good walk to good ruins, but I can find no photographs of what it was like in '42-45.

Anyone got any ideas or links?
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Old 30th Sep 2019, 3:25 pm   #2
ColinTheAmpMan1
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Default Re: Rhossili down radar station

Try this:

https://www.discovergower360.com/act...hossili-downs/

and this:

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4005307

If you Google "rhossili down radar station" there are some more.

I lived for a couple or so years on the Gower peninsula, but I never saw this ruin.

Colin.
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Old 30th Sep 2019, 3:58 pm   #3
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Default Re: Rhossili down radar station

Thanks, I've seen both those sites but nothing showing the station when it was working..

well, ive been coming here for nigh on 40 years and today was my first visit...so you're not alone!! Thanks though for the links.

D
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Old 30th Sep 2019, 5:48 pm   #4
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Default Re: Rhossili Down radar station

Apparently part of CHL (Chain Home Low). This isn't as it might sound a low frequency system, but a system that can 'see' lower than the standard Chain Home system that could also pick up low flying aircraft. There was also CHEL (Extra) that could apprently detect shipping.

Why do I know all this? I happened to visit RAF Bempton last week (East Yorkshire) that was part of the same system, but also seemed to have an experimental phased array, and then coversion to a newer system called ROTOR.
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Old 30th Sep 2019, 6:50 pm   #5
SiriusHardware
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Default Re: Rhossili Down radar station

Most of what remains at Bempton is underground, but apart from being on private property it is also in a fairly dangerous condition, one hazard being asbestos. That Y-shaped seaward pointing array, or the array of posts which supported it, is certainly interesting.
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Old 30th Sep 2019, 11:02 pm   #6
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Default Re: Rhossili Down radar station

If you're ever up St. Bees way there're still some buildings extant from the CHL RADAR site there. I expect Rhossili would be similar. Here's a gratuitous link to the page on my website:- http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~rw...e/stbeesch.htm
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Old 1st Oct 2019, 4:48 am   #7
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Default Re: Rhossili Down radar station

From what I could find on the 'net, the station was dismantled and parts of it dynamited almost immediately the war ended, so, if any photo's ever existed of it in an operational state, they would probably be in some MOD archive somewhere.
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Old 1st Oct 2019, 7:58 am   #8
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Default Re: Rhossili Down radar station

Yes, amusingly it was demolished in Operation Eyesore. Whether the operation was to remove or create eyesore is not.now so clear...

Coincidentally I was looking last night at one of those urban explorers websites and they had been inside a ROTOR radar side but I wasnt sure what it was. Thanks for the clarification

Anyway, Rhossili down site is worth the hike. On a nice day !!
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Old 1st Oct 2019, 10:03 am   #9
Neil Purling
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Default Re: Rhossili Down radar station

I have been to Bempton. It is in a really bad state. Yes. You are ankle-deep in burnt wall rendering. This is what probably contains asbestos as well as any pipe-lagging there once was. Needless to say I wore a full-face respirator & was very careful moving around, so as not to disturb any dust.
DON'T GO IN THERE! Got that? It IS on private land, even though the perimeter fence is long-gone.
BTW: I was there with permission.
The formation of blocks is reckoned to be a post ROTOR installation.
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Old 1st Oct 2019, 2:10 pm   #10
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Default Re: Rhossili Down radar station

I've been to Bempton a few times 1960/70 with permission from MPWB, looking at the impressed current anti corrosion system, for large bore cast iron heating pipes. Basically its a transformer and rectifier the pipes were well lagged not sure about asbestos though. Also Bempton is the place to be if you are interested in sea birds, especially in the spring time. Spectacular cliffs and views of the sea any time.
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Old 1st Oct 2019, 5:52 pm   #11
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Default Re: Rhossili Down radar station

Quote:
Originally Posted by ex 2 Base View Post
I've been to Bempton a few times 1960/70 with permission from MPWB, looking at the impressed current anti corrosion system, for large bore cast iron heating pipes. Basically its a transformer and rectifier the pipes were well lagged not sure about asbestos though. Also Bempton is the place to be if you are interested in sea birds, especially in the spring time. Spectacular cliffs and views of the sea any time.
Just in case anyone thought otherwise, I was there to see the Gannets on the cliffs, not to actually go into the station. Initially I didn't even know what it was, but seemed clear it was military with some 1940s history.
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